Pimp C ft. Sir T - It's Under My Rug
(From Black Grove 401 Records Compilation Vol. 1; 2004)
This one is a tasty broth for every gentleman partial to dining on Country-Rap Tunes from the sub-genre's very own Raymond Blanc : start with the sort of Pimp C production, rapping and hook which would've been right at home on Boosie & Webbie's Ghetto Stories, add a H-Town weed carrier who doesn't appear to have been ever heard from again, and then flavour the dish with a couple of minutes of ad libbing where Pimp brags about transcending Space Age Pimpin' with activities he describes as "star ship enterprise."
C-Nile ft. Juvenile & Skip - U Know Me remix
(From Black Grove 401 Records Compilation Vol. 1; 2004)
In which a decent joint by Mobile, Alabama rapper C-Nile from 2003 is given wings to soar its way to the New Orleans rap Elysium via the appendage of verses by Juvenile & U.T.P weed carrier Skip and production that reconfigures the original beat into something sufficiently more sinewy which is best jammed as an accompaniment to Juve's own Nolia Clap remix with Wacko & Skip from U.T.P from the same year, rather than a remix of the earlier C-Nile song.
J-Prince would probably track me down and have me tarred and feathered if I were to ever dare entertain the thought that Bun B accidentally strangling himself whilst taking off a The Hundreds t-shirt would've been much less a loss to rap than Pimp C carking it, but I wonder if he ever realises that everyone is secretly seething that the multi-talented auteur behind UGK ascended to the crossroads, while he's lived on to willingly record songs with Termanology, Drake and J. Cole?
Sure, it would be nice to know what Pimp would do today if he was still here. But, as they say in Texas, "It is what it is, mayne".
ReplyDeleteI'm not mad at Bun, though. He had a great ten year run from '94 to '04. I guess as soon as he started to become noticed north of Mason-Dixon, he grabbed the opportunity to connect nationwide, and later to become a blog favorite who makes it cool for 2dopeboys readers to appreciate some country music. In that regard he just did what every rapper in his place would do, presented with the same opportunities. Came a long way from Pregnant Pussy. Too bad his rapping became stale in the process. His interviews are much better than his music today. And there's still his old shit. Recommended: His verse on that 40 & Lil Jon "Rep Yo City". Bun at his finest, exquisite rhythm he applies there.
That Sir T joint is great. White Tim told me on the old trill Connection blogspot that it is originally from around 1999 / 2000.
Someone should tell White Tim to leak all his treasures already, since it doesn't seem like Pimp's family makes any money off his material anyway (http://allhiphop.com/stories/news/archive/2011/06/20/22797528.aspx). White Tim said last year, shortly before the release of „The Naked Soul“, that possible future profits for the family are the reason he's not leaking anything. But guess it's not working out (http://allhiphop.com/stories/news/archive/2011/07/11/22835946.aspx)
Plus the music on those two Pimp C albums Rap-A-Lot released (Naked Soul and Still Pimping) is altered considerably, with new beats by different producers, and new verses by rappers Pimp probably would have never worked with (Drake!). Not very promising what RAL's doing to Pimp's legacy. So it would be nice to hear the original incarnations. And all the other unreleased stuff, that will probably never be released officially anyway, due to samples that no label would ever try to clear.) So please Tim, bless all the UGK fans starving for the real deal. It shouldn't hurt anyone. Only the true UGK fans care anyway. It's not in the 2Pac dimension, of whom hundreds of originals songs are floating on the net and continue to leak to this day.
Sorry for ranting.
And thanks for that Juvenile remix. Didn't know about that.
Remember the Bun interview where he said he looked at himself in the mirror and felt like a little fat girl? One of the best rap interview moments ever, IMO.
ReplyDeleteFrom 1999 or 2000, huh? Sweet. I wonder if there are any unreleased gems with Boosie and Webbie in the vaults with all the other shelved gems?
I'm familiar with Rep Yo' City since I love Grit And Grind; I even tried playing it out once because it's on the b. side of Automatic but it was a tad too rowdy.
Too rowdy? LOL.
ReplyDeleteWell, if you can make it past the combined Lil Jon / Petey Pablo scream machine (and the rather boring Pablo verse), you will come across said Bun verse, of which I'm stunned no blogger ever mentioned it, and a rhythmically simpler, but also nice and fitting 8Ball verse. Good stuff. Ranks as one of my favorite Bun verses only slightly beneath Murder and Big Pimpin. Maybe better than Big Pimpin.
And the E-40 verse is great too, of course. How he switches from fast rap to slow style. There should have been more team ups between 40 and Bun in that manner. Their rhythmic verse construction ability is unmatched. Bun mentioned in an interview how 40 was the only rapper he really feared and expected to kill him on a beat.
Can you give me a link to the interview you mentioned, B.?
Let me riff on the Bun B career narrative one more time: A great ten year run. Of how many rappers can you say that? Not even Jay-Z and Nas.
And it probably would have lasted longer if Pimp hadn't gone to jail. He needed Pimp to create great music, his creativity and musical vision, and his stubbornness to dwell on his own sound. On his own, Bun is just a rapper. And when he stood in the limelight alone, he slowly started to pander to hip hop establishments' expectations or everyone else's. I'm not even listening to his new stuff. Too much great old stuff there.
On another note: I love your blog and the selection of artists you talk about, B. 40, Boosie, and newer cats like Lil B and the like. But I think I never saw you talking about Gucci Mane. Do you listen to his music - preferably '06 to '09 Gucci? I think there's not enough Gucci Mane writing on the blogs. After 2009 I rarely read interesting blogs on him, reviews of his older music. Only Yayodancing held it down, who wrote some nice pieces.
Bun B interview
ReplyDeleteThe Gucci songs I like, I really like (usually the Drumma Boy produced ones), but I'm not a huge fan so I've nothing to offer the blogosphere on him, especially since I probably like Normal more than anything from the '06 - '09 period.
Re : Rep Yo' City, it was a sunday afternoon BBQ I tried playing it at; possibly not the best setting.
Ah yeah, that interview. That's the one where he talks about E-40 intimidating him. Good one.
ReplyDeleteYou don't like '08, '09 Gucci that much? Man, that is some of the best music of the last 5 years. Try these:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q4Am7SmZOsQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yYHGPwJN9hU 2nd verse is a favorite – great use of rhythm. Great hook, too.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R803MDK_kJ0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XmXqR6ZKCbY 3rd verse is meh but verse 1 and 2 are some of the hardest since 50 Cent's “Heat“.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ashStr-0ig – Love the 3rd verse here.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4LIygv7u3jc
Plus tapes: The Movie, From Zone 6 To Duval, Burrprint The Movie 3D.
It's difficult to break down the Gucci catalog in a few recommendations. I compiled five volumes of Best of Gucci Mane, 'cause there's so much.
I actually checked a bunch of those Chicken Talk joints out a few months back after that No Jumper review where you were up in the comment section enthusing about them, but, alas, none of them were really hitting my g-spot.
ReplyDelete